Earthquakes, From Above and Below: Live Chat

This is a simulated view of ground movement following an earthquake. Image credit: NASA/JPL

Earthquakes: they're among the most frightening and deadly of all natural disasters. A live videocast and chat from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will give viewers an opportunity to ask questions of NASA scientists who are using space-based technologies to advance our understanding of these mysterious phenomena.

Scientists use a broad array of tools to study earthquakes and their processes from the ground, air and space. Space-based technologies like those being developed at JPL can image minute Earth movements to within fractions of an inch, measuring the ground deforming along faults before and after earthquakes. Among these tools are the Global Positioning System, interferometric synthetic aperture radar, and the latest technology JPL is now using to map major California earthquake faults: the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR. JPL scientists are also applying complex computer models to simulate earthquake processes.